Method for inserting material into the apertures of an apertured workpiece

ABSTRACT

This disclosure is directed to methods of and apparatus for inserting a material, e.g., the reactive paste used in secondary batteries, into the apertures of an apertured workpiece, e.g., the plate or grid element of a secondary battery, wherein the material to be inserted is deposited on the workpiece, an insertion means, e.g., a roller, is advanced toward the workpiece against the material, and the insertion means is displaced over the surface of the workpiece against the material concurrently with the advancement of the insertion means.

United States Patent Durr et a1.

451 May 2, 19 72 [54] METHOD FOR INSERTING MATERIAL INTO THE APERTURESOF AN APERTURED WORKPIECE [72] Inventors: Helmut Emil Durr, ChathamTownship, Morris County; Albert Heinz I-laller,

Clark, both of NJ.

[73] Assignee: Western Electric Company, Incorporated,

New York, NY.

221 Filed: June 6,1969

2 1] Appl. No.: 831,001

[52] U.S. C1. ..l36/67, 141/32 [51] Int. Cl ..I'I01m 35/26, H01 m 7/00[58] Field of Search 136/67, 64, 75.77, 36, 38,

[56] References Cited Primary Examiner-Anthony Skapars Attorney-H. J.Winegar, R. P. Miller and W. L. Williamson I 57] ABSTRACT Thisdisclosure is directed to methods of and apparatus for inserting amaterial, e.g., the reactive paste used in secondary batteries, into theapertures of an apertured workpiece, e.g., the plate or grid element ofa secondary battery, wherein the material to be inserted is deposited onthe workpiece, an insertion means, e.g., a roller, is advanced towardthe workpiece against the material, and the insertion means is displacedover the surface of the workpiece against the material concurrently withthe advancement of the insertion means.

9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures METHOD FOR INSERTING MATERIAL INTO THEAPERTURES OF AN APERTURED WORKPIECE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Fieldof the Invention This invention relates to methods of and apparatus forinserting material into the apertures of an apertured workpiece. Thisinvention is particularly related to methods of and apparatus forinserting semi-fluid material, e.g., reactive paste into the aperturesof a workpiece such as a battery plate or grid.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art discloses many approachesto the problem of inserting semi-fluid material into the apertures of anapertured workpiece. Among these approaches include rolling, wiping,agitation and hand insertion.

With respect to the term semi-fluid material, this term is used toconnote material exhibiting plastic characteristics, e.g., putty, paste,and the like. Such plastic characteristics include the capability tomaintain a shape although unsupported and the capability to beplastically deformed by the exertion of pressure thereon. Thus, forpurposes of this specification and the appended claims, the termsemi-fluid material is used in this context. I

Each of the above-noted approaches to, the problem of insertingsemi-fluid material has demonstrated disadvantages. Known methods ofrolling, for example, contemplate that a roller be passed over thesurface of material to be inserted and, at the point of contact betweenthe material and the roller, that the relative velocity therebetween iszero. Since rolling contact is for the most part substantially a linecontact, such rolling effectively impresses only compressive forces.Thus, although such known methods of rolling have been generallysatisfactory for exerting compressive forces on the material beinginserted, they have not been satisfactory where the material to beinserted is not readily insertable merely through the exertion ofcompressive forces. Further, where the material being inserted hasadhesive characteristics, rolling has proven generally unsatisfactory inthat adhesion of the material to the roller has caused the material tobe removed from the apertures as the roller passes over the aperture.

Wiping as a method for inserting semi-fluid materials has been found tobe unsatisfactory for inserting materials demonstrating high resistanceto flow and, with respect to other materials, has been found to leaveuneven surfaces on the materials being inserted. More specifically, theinsertion of semi-fluid material by wiping, e.g., bypassing a bladehaving a canted edge over the surface of an apertured workpiece to befilled, generates two force components against the semi-fluid material,viz a compressive force which tends to force the material into theapertures of the workpiece and a force tangential to the surface of theworkpiece which tends to smear the semi-fluid material around theworkpiece. Thus, the passage of such a wiping blade over the surface ofa workpiece to accomplish insertion causes the material being insertedboth to be passed into the apertures and to be pushed along in front ofthe blade. The result of this technique has been the generation of wavysurfaces in the inserted semi-fluid material, particularly in situationswhere the resistance to flow of the semi-fluid material is such as torequire high compressive force components.

The insertion of semi-fluid materials by agitation processes is onlypossible when the material being inserted exhibits very littleresistance to flow. Thus, if any compressive force is necessary to causeflow of the material into the apertures to be filled, a mode ofinsertion other than agitation must be utilized.

The disadvantages of inserting semi-fluid material into an aperturedworkpiece by hand, e.g., high cost, time inefficiency and poor qualitycontrol are considered to be obvious. Notwithstanding thesedisadvantages, there are many situations presently occurring in the artwherein the insertion of semifluid materials into apertured workpiecesis accomplished by hand.

It can be seen from the foregoing that the known modes of materialinsertion have recognized disadvantages. Additionally, however,developmentsin certain art areas which utilize apertured workpieceshaving their apertures filled with semi-fluid materials have emphasizedthe need for improved methods of and apparatus for inserting semi-fluidmaterials in apertured workpieces.

lnthe storage battery art, for example, efforts to improve battery lifeand performance have resulted in stress reducing battery plate or griddesigns which minimize stresses in the plate and maximize the capabilityof the plate to retain the semifluid paste therein. An example of such astress reducing battery design is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,434,883issuedto Babusci et al. on Mar. 25, 1969 for CYLINDRICAL LEAD ACID CELL. Thispatent discloses conical battery plates having apertures which areirregularly shaped.

In addition to the stress reducing plate designs, improved pasteretaining characteristics have been accomplished by shaping thestructural members of battery grids so as to define an irregularconfiguration, tag, a diamond shaped configuration. Such configurations,while increasing the capability of the battery plate to retain the pastematerial once inserted, have further complicated the problem ofaccomplishing initial insertion of the paste into the apertures. In thisregard, the problem of inserting paste material into such irregularlyshaped apertures in battery plates has been such as to require that thepaste be inserted by hand. Such a procedure involves working the pasteinto the apertures from one side of the battery plate using, forexample, a putty knife, and thereafter inverting the plate so as toinsert paste material from the other side thereof in the same manner.This procedure has proven unsatisfactory inter alia in that the pastematerial inserted from one side of the plate has demonstrated a tendencyto resist fusion with paste material inserted from the other side of thebattery plate. This resistance has resulted in the separation of the onepaste portion from the other paste portion thereby resulting in anoperational failure in the grid at the point of separation.

In addition to the above-mentioned developments in the battery structureart, developments in the battery paste art have also added tothe-complexity of inserting the paste in an apertured battery plate. Forexample, a new paste compound, viz tetra-basic lead sulfate (4PbO-PbSOhas been found to demonstrate excellent qualities as a battery paste.lts physical characteristics, however, e.g., its crystalline structure,adhesiveness and resistability to deformation in response to purecompression, render it extremely difficult to insert into apertures,particularly, irregularly shaped apertures. Thus, insertion of thismaterial has also been accomplished, heretofore, by hand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention includes method of andapparatus for overcoming the above-noted problems both as they relate tothe insertion of materials into apertured workpieces broadly, and asthey relate to the particular problem of inserting semifluid materialsuch as paste into the apertures of workpieces such as a battery plate.

One aspect of this invention, therefore, involves a method for insertinga material into the apertures of an apertured workpiece wherein thematerial is deposited on the workpiece, an insertion means is advancedtoward the workpiece and against the material, and the insertion meansis displaced over the surface of the workpiece during the advancementthereof so as to effect insertion of the material into the apertures.

Another aspect of the present invention involves apparatus for insertinga material in the apertures of an apertured workpiece including aninsertion means, advancing means for reciprocating the insertion meanstoward and away from the for revolving the drum around the axis of theconical battery plate, rollers mounted on and joumalled for "rotationwith respect to the drum, and gear means for imparting a rotationalmovement to the rollers, the apparatus accomplishing insertion ofsemi-fluid material into the battery plate apertures by a rolling,revolving, advancing motion of the rollers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other various aspects ofthis invention may be better understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, particularly in the light of theattached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional elevation view of an apparatus according tothe invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view through the plane 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3A, B, C andD are schematic diagrams of the operation of theapparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Considering the invention in detail with referenceto FIGS. 1 and 2, an apparatus according to the invention is designatedgenerally by the reference numeral 10.

Apparatus 10. comprises'a base 12 on the upper surface of which aremounted a pair of tracks 14, a pair of guide rails 16 and a structuralframe designated generally by the reference numeral 18. Tracks 14 definesupport means for the rollers 19 of a conveyer 21, the movement of whichis guided by guide rails 16. Retained in conveyer 21 is a nesting plate22, the upper surface 24 of which is provided with a conical bed forreceiving a workpiece 25 thereon.

The workpiece 25 shown resting in the apparatus 10 is a conical batteryplate havinga plurality of concentric ribs 27 and a plurality ofradially extending ribs 28 (FIG. 2) which radiate from a hub 29. Theribs 27 and 28 are substantially diamond shaped in, cross-sectionalconfiguration so as to provide a good structural basis for supporting afiller of paste therein.

Formed in the center of the conical bed and extending vertically axiallythrough nesting plate 22, as shown in FIG. 1, is an aperture 32.Aperture 32 accommodates the reception of hub 29 therethrough duringpositioning of workpiece 25 on nesting plate 22. Positioned belowaperture 32 are a pair of spring loaded finger latches 34 which areprovided with teeth which engage complementary grooves in the outersurface of hub 29 to rigidly lock workpiece 25 in position on nestingplate 22.

The circumferential surface of workpiece 25 is received within anannular collar 36'mounted on nesting plate 22. C01- lar 36 cooperateswith aperture 32 to position workpiece 25 in the center of the conicalbed of nesting plate 22.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, a cap 38 is positioned over hub 29 ofworkpiece 25 and retained in position by a spring clip 39 whichfrictionally engages the surface of a bore extending through hub 29. Cap38 is sized to cover workpiece 25 within the innermost concentric rib soas to preclude the insertion of semifluid paste material in the spacebetween the innermost rib andthe hub 29. The purpose of maintaining suchan unpasted area is to provide a passage for gases generated during theoperation of a battery in which workpiece 25 may be used. Thus, theprovision of cap 38 is related specifically to the pasting of aworkpiece 25 such as the battery plate shown and may be omitted wheninserting semi-fluid materials in other types of workpieces withoutdeparting from the teaching of the invention.

As noted above, there is also mounted on the base 12 a structural frame18 which comprises a plurality of vertically extendingsupport posts 41and a horizontally extending motor support plate 42. Rigidly mounted onmotor support plate 42 are a pair of fluid motors 44, the driving rods45 of which extend downwardly through suitable apertures in motorsupport plate 42. The lower ends of rods 45 are threaded to accommodatethe reception thereon of nuts 46 whichserve to support and position anannular bearing plate 48 below and sub- -stantially parallel to motorsupport plate 42. Thus, the

cooperative operation of fluid motors 44 displaces rods 45. andtherewith bearing support plate 48, vertically in such a manner as tomaintain plate 48 substantially parallel to motor support plate'42.

Mounted on bearing support plate 48 are a plurality of roller bearings50 which rotate about horizontally disposed, radially extending axes,and a plurality of roller bearings 52 whichrotate about verticallyextending axes. Bearings 50 and 52 are rigidly mounted on bearingsupportplate 48 adjacent its inner edge, and cooperate to position and supporta drive cylinder 54 which is rigidly secured, such as by shrink fitting,to a drum 55. Specifically, drive cylinder 54 is provided with anannular channel 56 formed in its outer surface, which annular channelreceives roller bearing 50 therein. The upper surface of channel 56rests on the bearings 50 thereby supporting cylinder 54 in such a manneras to allow revolution about a vertically extending central axis. Rollerbearings 52 are positioned on bearing support plate 48 concentrically ofthe vertically extending central axis of revolution of cylinder 54 andin contact with the circumferential surface of an annular, radiallyoutwardly extending flange 57 formed on the lower edge of cylinder 54. c

Formed in the upper outer surface of drive cylinder 54 is a taperedannular groove which accommodates the reception of a drive belt 58. Belt58 transfers power from a suitable motor (not shown)'to cylinder 54 soas to cause the revolution of cylinder 54 within bearings 52 and aboutits vertically extending central axis. As noted above, cylinder 54 isrigidly secured to drum 55. Thus, as cylinder 54is caused to revolve, soalso is drum 55. v v

The outer surface of bearing support plate 48 is provided with aplurality of apertures for receiving hang bolts 60, which hang boltssupport, at their lower end, an annular gear mounting plate 62. Gearmounting plate 62 is suspended on hang bolts 60 in such a manner as tobe vertically displaced from and substantially parallel to bearingsupport plate 48. Thus, vertical movement of bearing support plate 48toward and away from motor support plate 42 in response to thecooperative operation of fluid motors 44, is accompanied by acorresponding vertical displacement of gear'mounting plate 62.Additionally, the central openings of bearing support plate 48 and gearmounting plate 62 are of diameters which are substantially greater thanthe diameter of drum 55 so that drum 55, which through cylinder 54 andbearings 50, 52, is positioned both concentrically within and verticallywith respect to annular plates 48 and 62, can revolve freely withinplates 48 and 62. Thus while drum 55 is constrained by roller bearings50 to move vertically with plates 48 and 62, it is free to revolvewithin the plates 48 and 62 notwithstanding their vertical posi' tion.

Rigidly secured to the upper surface of bearing support plate 62 is abeveled ring gear 63. Ring gear 63 acts as a reaction gear for a rollerdriving pinion 65 which is mounted on a shaft 66 which is joumalled indrum 55.

Formed in the wall of drum 55 are a plurality of apertures 67 throughwhich are rigidly mounted, such as by welding, bearing barrels 69. Thelongitudinal axis of each barrel 69 extends downwardly and radiallyinwardly as seen in FIG. 1.

Extending through each bearing barrel 69 and supported therein by sleevebearings 71 is a shaft73 on one end of which is rigidly mounted abeveled or frusto-conical roller 75 and on the other end of which ismounted pinion gear 65. In that roller 75, shaft 73 and pinion gear 65are rigidly secured, they rotate within barrel 69 as a unit. Thus,rotational movement of pinion 65 in response to movement with respect toring gear 63, causes a corresponding rotation of beveled roller 75.

The arcuate movement of roller 75 is, at all times, equal to the arcuatemovement of pinion gear 65. Thus, a 90 rotation of pinion gear 65results in a corresponding 90 rotation of roller 75. It should be noted,however, that all points along the tapered surfaces 78 of rollers 75 canbe seen from FIG. 1 to fall outside the projected pitch diameter pd ofpinion 65. Thus, in that rollers 75 and pinions 65 are rigidly securedthrough shaft 73, and in that the rotation of pinion 65 is positivelycontrolled by the meshing engagement of the teeth of pinion 65 with theteeth of beveled ring gear 63, the surfaces 78 of rollers 75 will notdefine a pure rolling action along their lines of bottom dead center.Rather, because of increased diameters of rollers 75 with respect to theprojected pitch diameter of pinion 65, the rollers experience atangential speed at their points of bottom dead center which causes awiping" effect during the operation of the apparatus.

More specifically, the pure rolling motion of any generally round bodyalong a support surface is'evidenced by a zero relative velocity betweenthe surface of the generally round body and-the support surface at thepoint or line of contact therebetween. Where such a pure rolling is notexperienced, a relative velocity occurs between the support surface andthe surface of the generally round body. With respect to a conicallyshaped body rolling on a support surface, pure rolling occurs when allpoints on the surface of the conically shaped body are contained withina single cone. Where such is not the case, i.e., where some portions ofthe surface of the body fall elsewhere than in the single cone, thesurface of the body at such a point will experience a relative velocitywith respect to a stationary surface with which it may be in contact.Relating this to the structure of FIG. 1, the rotational movement ofpinion gears 65, shafts 73 and rollers 75 is controlled by gear 65 whichis in meshed engagement and thus in compulsory rolling engagement withbeveled ring gear 63. Accordingly, pure rolling engagement of thesurfaces of any of shafts 73 and rollers 75 will occur only when a pointof contact between the surfaces of shafts 73 or roller 75 and theiradjacent surfaces falls along a cone defined by the extension of thepitch diameter pd of beveled ring gear 63. As is evident from FIG. 1wherein pd extended is shown in phantom line, all points on the surfaceof shaft 73 fall within the cone whereas all points on the surface ofroller 75 fall outside the projected cone.

Thus, referring only to the surface of roller 75, there will beexperienced, at all times during the rotation of roller 75 by thecooperation of pinion 65 with gear 63, a relative velocity of wipingaction between the roller surface and any stationary surface with whichit may come into contact.

The magnitude of the relative velocity imparted to the surfaces 78 ofthe rollers 75 can be determined by one having skill in the art basedupon the amount of variation of the diameter of the roller surface atany point therealong from the diameter of the extended pitch diametercone at that same point. With respect to such relative velocities, ithas been found that an increase in absolute tangential velocity of 10 to30 percent over the absolute tangential velocity experienced along thesurface of the cone of the extended pitch diameter is generallysatisfactory in practicing the present invention.

Considering the various possible motions of rollers 75'in the light ofthe foregoing, it can be seen that all motion of rollers 75 is inresponse to some motion of drum which thus defines a displacing meansfor rollers 75. Specifically, vertical displacement of drum 55, e.g.,between the positions shown to the left and right of center in FIG. 1,causes a corresponding vertical displacement of rollers 75. Revolutionof drum 55 around its vertical axis, on the other hand, causes both therevolution of rollers 75 around the vertical axis of drum 55 and therotation of rollers 75 around the axes of shafts 73. As noted above, therotation of rollers 75 is in response to the meshed rolling engagementof pinion gear with beveled ring gear 63 as the pinion gear is revolvedwith the revolution of drum 55.

Thus, it can be seen, that each of rollers 75 is subject to verticaldisplacement, revolution and rotation. As is discussed below withrespect to the operation of apparatus 10, each of these motions plays apart in the insertion of semi-fluid material in the practice of themethod of the invention by apparatus 10.

Referring again to FIG. 1, there can be seen to be mounted also on motorsupport plate 42 a fluid motor 80, the shaft 81 of which extends througha suitable aperture in support plate 42. Fluid motor imparts verticalmovement (as seen in FIG. 1) to a wiper blade 84 which is mounted on alower end of shaft 81. The outer edges of wiper blade 84 are slidablyreceived between a plurality of guide pins 85 which are rigidly securedto and extend radially inwardly from the inner surface of drum 55. Guidepins 85 serve to accommodate the vertical movement of wiper blade 84 aswell as to impart revolving movement to wiper blade 84 in response tothe revolution of drum 55.

The lower edge of wiper blade 84 is shaped to correspond to the taperedsurface of conical workpiece 25 and is also canted at a slight angle,e.g., 10, away from the direction of revolution of the wiper blade.Thus, when wiper blade 84 is extended toward the surface of theworkpiece 25, revolution of drum 55 causes a corresponding revolution ofwiper blade 84 thereby wiping the surface of workpiece 25 as isdiscussed below.

When not in position to accomplish its wiping function, wiper blade 84is retracted upwardly by fluid motor 80. The amount of vertical movementimparted to wiper blade 84 by fluid motor 80 during retraction is suchas to allow wiper blade 84 to be' positioned above the upper edge ofrollers 75 during the operation thereof.

The apparatus 10 is operated as one step or station of a manufacturingoperation for forming finished pasted grid plates for use in secondarybatteries.

The overall operation of which this apparatus and its opera-. tion is apart, includes the steps of positioning a workpiece 25 in conical bed22, which bed as noted above is mounted on a conveyer 21, advancingtheconveyer to an indexing station where the workpiece is indexed to insurethat it is accurately shaped to the desired conical'configuration, andthereafter advancing the conveyer and workpiece to a paste insertingstation such as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. At this pasting station,paste is inserted in the apertures of the workpiece whereafter theworkpiece is moved to a subsequent station and excess material isremoved from the plate by inverting the plate over a suitable collectingmeans. Finally, a finishing wiper may be applied to the surface of thematerial so as to insure a smooth finish, and the finished plate isremoved from bed 22.

Considering now the operation of the apparatus 10 in the paste insertingstep, the conveyer section containing bed 22 and a workpiece 25 ispositioned so that the vertical axis of workpiece 25 as seen in FIG. 1is coaxial with the axes of shaft 81 of fluid motor 80 and the centralaxis of revolution of drum 55. With the workpiece 25 so positioned, ameasured amount of battery paste is. positioned on the surface of theworkpiece 25 under rollers 71. The measured amount is preferablyslightly more than that required to fill the apertures in, workpiece 25.I

Fluid motors 44 are then operated to advance bearing support plate 48and therewith drum 55 and rollers 75 from a retracted position such asthat shown to the left of center in FIG. 1, downwardly to a positionwhere rollers 75 are brought into initial contact with the battery pasteas shown in FIG. 3A. Revolution of drum 55 is then commenced to causedisplacement of the rollers over the surface of the workpiece and tocause gears 65 to roll along beveled ring gear 63. As noted above, therevolution of drum 55 in cooperation with the rolling of gears 65 onring gear 63 imparts both a revolving and a rotational movement torollers 75.

Concurrently with the revolution and rotation of rollers 75, fluidmotors 44are again operated to advance drum 55 and therewith-rollers 75downwardly toward workpiece 25. This advancement is preferablyaccomplished at a relatively slow rate, e.g., 0.5 inch per minute forsome pastes, but it should be recognized that the optimum rate for anyparticular paste inserting operation may be determined empirically. Thecooperative advancement, revolution and rotation of the rollers 75 causean insertion of paste within the apertures of battery plate 25 so as tocompletely fill the apertures.

Considering this insertion in detail, and referring to FIG. 3A, Band C,there is shown insertion of the material in progressive steps from theinitial revolutions of a roller 75 over the material through the finalpass of rollers 75 thereover. Themotion of the roller 75 is shown withrespect to the surface of the paste as being revolving in a directionfrom left to right as shown in FIG. 3 and indicated by arrow Re,rotating in a clockwise direction as shown by arrow R and downwardlyadvancing as shown by arrowA.

The revolving movement of roller 75 as indicated by arrow Re, ifconsidered alone and .not inconjunction with the advancement or rotationof roller 75, is similar in effect to the action of a squeegee or wiperblade in that the material ,contacted by roller 75 is, by this revolvingmovement, caused to be pushed downwardly and ahead of the roller.

Pushing material ahead of the roller is not a desirable condition wheninserting paste into the apertures of a workpiece suchas the batteryplate 25. The rotational movement R0 experienced by roller 75, however,overcomes this undesirable pushing of material by tending to drag thematerial downwardly toward the underside of the roller. Morespecifically, the rotational movement of roller 75, which as noted aboveis at such a rate as to cause a tangential velocity of the roller withrespect to the paste in the area of contact, tends to pull pastematerial from in front of the roller downwardly under the roller,thereby to increase the amount of material being inserted by each rollerpass.

A second effect of the rotational movement of roller 75 is that thetendency of the paste material to stick to the roller surface and bewithdrawn from the workpiece apertures by the roller is minimized and inmost cases eliminated. It was noted above that a problem with'prior artroller devices has been the. tendency of the material being inserted tostick thereto and thus be withdrawn from the workpiece apertures afterhaving. been inserted. The invention overcomes the problem in that therotation of rollers 75, so as to maintain a relative velocity betweenthe surface of the paste and the roller, is such as to generate shearforces between the roller and the pastematerial, which shear forcesassist in separating the paste material from the roller surface. Thus,the shear forces created between the roller surface and the pastematerial are sufficient to overcome the adhesive force between theroller surface and the paste material and no adhesive bond therebetweenis established. I

As noted above, the rotating movement of the roller tends to drag pastematerial downwardly under the roller thereby causing additional materialto be drawn into the area under the roller for insertion into theworkpiece. In this regard, the efiiciency of this motion can be improvedand still additional material can be drawn downwardly with the roller byproviding the roller with a roughened surface, e.g., by knurling orribbing or the like, which roughened surface increases the frictionalrelationship between paste material and the roller.

The advancement of rollers 75 concurrently with the revolution androtation thereof allows insertion of the paste material to beaccomplished by a plurality of passes of the roller thereover. Each passof a roller generates a pulse of material insertion force. Thus,insertion of the paste material is accomplished by what may be describedas a pulsing action rather than by the exertion of a single force as isgenerally known in prior art methods of insertion by rolling. Such apulsing action accomplishes a relatively gradual insertion of the pastematerial as is depicted schematically in FIGS. 3 A, B and C.

The gradual advancement of the rollers in cooperation with thisrevolving and rotating motions has been found to cause insertion of thepaste into the irregularly shaped apertures in such a manner as tocompletely fill the apertures including those areas below the centralrestrictions defined by the diamond-shaped structural ribs 27 and 28.Upon the completion of the insertion operation by the rollers, therollers are retracted at a relatively rapid rate. by the operation offluid motors 44. The rapid rate of retraction, e.g., a rate of 10 inchesper second, has been found to be desirable in cooperating with thewiping action of the roller surface against the material being insertedto effect a complete separation of material'being inserted from theroller surface, thereby avoiding withdrawal of inserted material asdiscussed above. A wiper blade 84 then may be advanced toward thesurface of the workpiece and revolved with drum 55 along the surface ofthe workpiece in such a manner as to smooth over and loosen any excessof paste material from the surface of the workpiece (see FIG. 3D). Uponcompletion of the wiping operation, the wiper is retracted by theoperation of the fluid motor 80 and the now pasted workpiece is advancedby the operation of conveyer 21 as discussed generally above.

An apparatus substantially the same as that of FIGS. 1 and 2 has beenutilized to insert the abovementioned tetra-basic lead sulfate pasteinto a conical lead battery grid. Specifically, during the insertion ofthe paste, the drum and rollers were revolved at 50 revolutions perminute and the rate of advance of the rollers toward the workpiece wasapproximately 0.5 I

inch per minute. The pressure thus generated by the rollers against thepaste material was approximately 70-80 pounds per square inch and, usingthis method, complete filling of the grid apertures was accomplished.

It is to be recognized that workpieces having ribs of virtually anyconfiguration can be filled according to the method of the invention.Further, the step of wiping the surface of the work piece afterinsertion of the material by the rollers can be eliminated if desiredand in such situations, the rollers are advanced until they come intointimate contact with the ribs.-

It is also to be recognized that certain situations may occur whereinrotation of the rollers in a direction opposite to that disclosed abovewith respect to the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 may be desired. Suchreverse rotation can be accomplished simply, for example by providing agear drive between the beveled gear and the roller.

Finally, it should also be recognized that the method and apparatus ofthe invention, although disclosed with respect to the specific utilityof pasting a conical battery grid, can be utilized to insert othermaterials into the apertures of other types of workpieces of othershapes. In' this regard, many modifications and adaptations may be madein the present invention without departing from the scope and spiritthereof.

What'is claimed is: 1. Method for inserting material into the aperturesof an apertured workpiece including steps of:

depositing said material on said workpiece; advancing an insertion meanstoward said workpiece and against said material;

displacing said insertion means over the surface of said material andrevolving said insertion means during said displacing, said displacingand revolving cooperating to insert said material into said apertures;and

rotating said insertion means concurrently with the revolving anddisplacement thereof.

2. Method for inserting semi-fluid material into the apertures of anapertured workpiece including the steps of:

depositing said semi-fluid material on said workpiece;

advancing a roller towards said workpiece and against said semi-fluidmaterial;

displacing said roller over the surface of said semi-fluid materialduring said advancing, said displacing including the revolving of saidroller over the surface of said material and said displacing andadvancing cooperating to insert said semi-fluid material into saidapertures; and

rotating said roller concurrently with the advancing and displacingthereof.

3. Method according to claim 2 wherein said revolving is repeated duringsaid advancing such that said semi-fluid material is subjected to aplurality of revolutions of said roller.

4. Method according to claim 2 and further including the steps of:

retracting said roller after the insertion of said semi-fluid material;

advancing a wiping means against said semi-fluid material;

and

displacing said wiping means over the surface of said workpiece such asto loosen any excess semi-fluid material and to smooth the surface ofsaid semi-fluid material within said apertures.

5. Method for inserting paste into the apertures of an apertured batteryplate including the steps of:

positioning said battery plate on a nesting bed;

depositing said paste on said battery plate in an amount substantiallyequal to the amount to be inserted;

rapidly advancing a roller means to contact said paste on said batteryplate;

concurrently revolving and rotating said roller means over the surfaceof said battery paste; I

slowly advancing said revolving and rotating roller means toward saidbattery plate, said advancing, revolving and 1 0 rotating cooperating toinsert said paste into said apertures; and

retracting said roller means upon the complete filling of said aperturesin said battery plate.

6. Method according to claim 5 wherein said roller meansis rotated toestablish a relative velocity between the surface of said roller meansand the surface of said paste at their points of contact.

7. Method according to claim 5 wherein said step of retracting saidroller means comprises rapidly retracting said roller means upon thecomplete filling of said apertures in said battery plate to reduce theeffect of any tendency of said paste to adhere to said roller means.

8. Method according to claim 5 wherein said battery plate is a conicalbattery plate and said roller means includes a frustoconical roller.

9. Method according to claim 5 and further including the steps of:

advancing a wiping means against said paste; and

displacing said wiping means over the surface of said battery plate toloosen any excess paste therefrom and to smooth the surface of saidpaste within said apertures.

s a s s

1. Method for inserting material into the apertures of an aperturedworkpiece including steps of: depositing said material on saidworkpiece; advancing an insertion means toward said workpiece andagainst said material; displacing said insertion means over the surfaceof said material and revolving said insertion means during saiddisplacing, said displacing and revolving cooperating to insert saidmaterial into said apertures; and rotating said insertion meansconcurrently with the revolving and displacement thereof.
 2. Method forinserting semi-fluid material into the apertures of an aperturedworkpiece including the steps of: depositing said semi-fluid material onsaid workpiece; advancing a roller towards said workpiece and againstsaid semi-fluid material; displacing said roller over the surface ofsaid semi-fluid material during said advancing, said displacingincluding the revolving of said roller over the surface of said materialand said displacing and advancing cooperating to insert said semi-fluidmaterial into said apertures; and rotating said roller concurrently withthe advancing and displacing thereof.
 3. Method according to claim 2wherein said revolving is repeated during said advancing such that saidsemi-fluid material is subjected to a plurality of revolutions of saidroller.
 4. Method according to claim 2 and further including the stepsof: retracting said roller after the insertion of said semi-fluidmaterial; advancing a wiping means against said semi-fluid material; anddisplacing said wiping means over the surface of said workpiece such asto loosen any excess semi-fluid material and to smooth the surface ofsaid semi-fluid material within said apertures.
 5. Method for insertingpaste into the apertures of an apertured battery plate including thesteps of: positioning said battery plate on a nesting bed; depositingsaid paste on said battery plate in an amount substantially equal to theamount to be inserted; rapidly advancing a roller means to contact saidpaste on said battery plate; concurrently revolving and rotating saidroller means over the surface of said battery paste; slowly advancingsaid revolving and rotating roller means toward said battery plate, saidadvancing, revolving and rotating cooperating to insert said paste intosaid apertures; and retracting said roller means upon the completefilling of said apertures in said battery plate.
 6. Method according toclaim 5 wherein said roller means is rotated to establish a relativevelocity between the surface of said roller means and the surface ofsaid paste at their points of contact.
 7. Method according to claim 5wherein said step of retracting said roller means comprises rapidlyretracting said roller means upon the complete filling of said aperturesin said battery plate to reduce the effect of any tendency of said pasteto adhere to said roller means.
 8. Method according to claim 5 whereinsaid battery plate is a conical battery plate and said roller meansincludes a frusto-conical roller.
 9. Method according to claim 5 andfurther including the steps of: advancing a wiping means against saidpaste; and displacing said wiping means over the surface of said batteryplate to loosen any excess paste therefrom and to smooth the surface ofsaid paste within said apertures.